Kentucky Finishes Runner-Up, Three Wildcats Earn Top 10
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky women’s golf team teed off the spring season already in contention for championships.
The Wildcats battled hole-by-hole down the stretch at the Paradise Invitational, ultimately landing in second place on a 6-under-par tournament total. The Cats plugged in a 2-under in the final round on Wednesday, which allowed the team to assemble three straight par-or-better rounds in their spring debut.
Kentucky now has three finishes inside the top three this season, with four different top finishers through five tournaments in 2025-26.
Kentucky was just four shots off the team champion Tennessee, who recorded two birdies and an eagle on the final hole of the day. Kentucky finished three shots ahead of Clemson, who took a late charge up the team leaderboard, 10 shots in front of Georgia in fourth place and 11 shots in front of Georgia in fifth place.
UK had a different top finisher at each of its four tournaments last fall, starting with Anastasia Hekkonen at the Folds of Honor Collegiate in early September. Well, history could be repeating itself as Hekkonen paced the team once again but this time in the spring debut.
The sophomore handed over her best round of the event today – a 3-under-par 69. That, which is the second-best, 18-hole round of her college career, paired with her 70 in the first round and her 72 in the second, formed a 5-under-par 211 for a share of third place on the 90-person individual leaderboard.
She joined the bogey-free club that a couple of her teammates enjoyed yesterday, recording a spotless 15 pars and three birdies on her scorecard Wednesday.
Hekkonen now has three top-10 finishes and two top-five finishes through just five tournaments this season. It also marked the second event this season she has turned in only par-or-better rounds.
Karlie Campbell and Cathryn Brown tied for seventh place at the Paradise Invitational.
Campbell went even-par today, which marked her second straight par-or-better round this week as she gradually chipped away at her 3-over from the first round. While her even-par final round is a top-five, 18-hole round for the sophomore, her 5-under-par 67 recorded in the second round Tuesday, which came with zero bogeys, was the highlight of her week.
This is her first top-10 finish of the season, while it is the second in her college career.
Brown turned in a pair of 2-under-par 70s Monday and Tuesday, which gave her room to plug in a 2-over-par 74 Wednesday. She had a rather quiet round, turning in just three bogeys and at last a birdie on her final hole on the par-5 No. 18.
Brown has now contributed 18 straight rounds to the team total, a stretch that dates back to last season. This is her third top-five finish of 2025-26.
C.A. Carter handed in her best round of the tournament on a 1-under-par 71 Wednesday, which is the second-best, 18-hole round of her college career. Her final eight holes of the day included six pars, one birdie and an eagle on the par-4 No. 15.
Her efforts down the stretch helped her shed a stroke off her tournament total to form a 3-over-par 219 for a share of 25th place.
Samantha Paradise, who competed as an individual in her first appearance in Blue and White, rallied back from a second-round 78 to card a final-round 73. Overall in her UK debut, she went 7-over and tied 40th place.
Raleygh Simpson went 8-over in the final round to turn in a 19-over-par 235 for a share of 82nd place at the Paradise Invitational.
The Wildcats will return home for fewer than two weeks before hitting the road again for the Spartan Suncoast Collegiate Invitational at the Palm Aire Country Club in Sarasota, Florida, on Feb. 15-16.
Scorecard
T3 Anastasia Hekkonen 70, 72, 69 … 211 (-5)
T7 Karlie Campbell 75, 67, 72 … 214 (-2)
T7 Cathryn Brown 70, 70, 74 … 214 (-2)
T25 C.A. Carter 73, 75, 71 … 219 (+3)
T40 Samantha Paradise 72, 78, 73 … 223 (+7) (ind)
T82 Raleygh Simpson 80, 75, 80 … 235 (+19)
2 KENTUCKY 288, 284, 286 … 858 (-6)
For the latest on the Kentucky women’s golf team, follow the team on X, Facebook, and Instagram, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.
